The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 108 : Dropping the Sun (1)

A noble family is a dual entity. They pretend to be righteous because they want to be respected by the common people, but at the same time, they will do any ugly thing for the benefit of their family. They draw their swords against the Green Forest bandits who have gone on a plunder and become a shield for the common people, while at the same time, they also commit atrocities no less than the Green Forest bandits.

The power of a noble family cannot grow by doing only good deeds. It is because the money earned from bad deeds is hundreds of times greater than the money earned from good deeds.

Martial power cannot be said to be the best solution in all matters. But if there is a justification for martial power, it becomes the best and most optimal solution. Even if there is no justification, if one uses fists and swords, most matters are settled quickly and easily without going around in circles.

A noble family with ties to the Unorthodox Faction makes full use of this point to increase its power. If they fight with violence, martial power, and authority as their weapons, it is not difficult to increase the power of the family.

Then what about the orthodox sect?

Would a prestigious noble family, counted as a member of the orthodox sect, not use martial power for private matters?

That is not the case. The prestigious noble families of the orthodox sect just divide and use their power.

The power of 'righteousness' that symbolizes the noble family, which can be exposed to the outside.

The power of 'negativity' that is hidden and used secretly so as not to be exposed.

The ronin unit that had attacked Jang So-gil and Yang Gwan was the 'Dog Wolf' unit, one of the powers of negativity that the Seomun Clan possessed. They were those who took on dirty work such as pursuing and killing those who were hostile to the Seomun Clan, or transporting dangerous stolen goods.

The martial arts of each one was weaker than the martial artists of the Seomun Clan who were exposed on the surface. But they were not ordinary martial artists. They were skilled in group tactics, pursuit, and assassination, and could devise schemes. They did not have the ordinary and old-fashioned values that pure martial artists had, such as an obsession with a frontal confrontation, nor did they have the honor and face of an orthodox sect.

From the perspective of the opponent, it was a truly tricky matter.

'Tsk, I've been properly caught in their operation.'

A single streak of green smoke visible through the swirling snowstorm. It was the smoke of a signal flare.

Usually, when setting off a signal flare, a combination of three colors was used. One was a color that proved the identity of the person who had set off the signal flare, one was a color that indicated the purpose, and the remaining one was a color that pointed to the target to receive the signal.

'The fact that there is only one color means that it doesn't matter who sees it.'

A police officer who saw that would think that someone had set off the signal flare incorrectly. But to the hunting dogs who were trying to achieve their dream of a windfall by killing Jang So-gil, it would look like the light of gold.

The defensive formation of the Seomun Clan seemed good for buying time and tying up their feet. The intention was to tie up their feet here and wait for the reinforcements of the hunting dogs. Then was the right answer to run away as it was?

"Tsk, you dull fellow."

"Ugh. Young Master So is the strange one. Normally, you can't move like that!"

If he used the Cloud Dragon Nine Steps to its maximum, it would not be difficult to get out of the defensive formation, but that was impossible for Yang Gwan. If Jang So-gil were to escape alone as it was, Yang Gwan would die.

Yang Gwan, who was annoyed by the fact that he had become a burden, thrust his spear out greatly. It was because he had seen a crack in the defensive formation that had been created thanks to several people flinching at Jang So-gil's Void-Treading Steps.

"Keuhak-!"

The spear, wrapped in flames, pierced a man's body. The person next to him, in a hurry, made an unreasonable move to fill that crack. He had tried to cut Yang Gwan's spear in the middle.

But the thrust of the Yang Family Spear Art was faster when it was withdrawn than when it was thrust. The Yang Family Spear was a martial art created on the battlefield. The martial principle to not have one's weapon destroyed on a complicated battlefield was melted into it.

The attack on the spear returned to nothing, and one person's unreasonable move created one more crack.

Through that gap, Jang So-gil's Soul-Stealing Flash pierced through.

"Heo-eok..."

A chilly cold qi covered his body. Frozen in the appearance of his living self, another man lost his life. Since a combination formation was a defensive formation performed by two people, if this was also a defensive formation, it was a defensive formation.

"A wonderful pursuit. Excellent, Young Master So."

"Instead of saying empty words, look ahead. I've entrusted my back to you, but I'm anxious-!"

"Even if I die, there will be no case of Young Master So being attacked from behind."

Back to back, they blocked the enemies from all directions at the same time. Yang Gwan and Jang So-gil, through three months of closed-door training, had come to know well how far each other could fight.

Even in the days when they knew nothing, they had defeated the combination formation called the 'Yin-Yang One Exchange' shown by the two Daoists of Diancang. The combination formation that Jang So-gil and Yang Gwan were performing now had no particular name, but since it had Yang Gwan's bravery and Jang So-gil's wit, it was already a fine martial art.

"Heueueum..."

The martial artist of the Dog Wolf unit swallowed his saliva. The opponent was only two, but he could not see a direction to attack.

Yang Gwan's spear could attack a long distance, and Jang So-gil's movements were agile, changing front and back, up and down in an instant.

Five steps. The distance that Yang Gwan's spear could reach.

Ten steps. The distance that Jang So-gil could move when the martial artists took one step.

There was no gap to drive them into a dead end with the Firm Wall Defensive Formation and hunt them. They were more skilled than he had imagined. The opponent who even used Void-Treading Steps was also skillfully using a combination formation.

Fear spread among the martial artists in an instant. To overcome their fear, they launched an attack that they had forcibly squeezed out.

At the moment they raised their swords in unison and struck down at the same time. The spear shaft, imbued with internal energy, received the attack.

In that fleeting moment, Jang So-gil's sword cut through the air like a beam of light. The rotating blue cold qi split the swords of the Dog Wolf unit in half.

The blue cold qi, still having strength left, stretched out, wriggling like a snake. The swords that had been split in half were freezing in the blink of an eye.

"Uaaak!"

"Everyone, let go-!"

Everyone hurriedly let go of their swords, but the reaction of three people was late. The sword hilt and their hands stuck together with a 'jjeojeok' sound.

Yang Gwan cut off those dulled hands. The severed hands, along with fresh blood, fell onto the white snow with a 'hududuk' sound.

"Aaaaaaaak!"

A total of five hands were cut off. Two had lost both hands, and one had lost one hand.

Even at the moment they screamed in alarm, the offensive continued like flowing water. Jang So-gil's sword pierced their empty chests.

The thrust of the Sun-Shooting Sword Art, which was said to be the fastest among sword arts, and the mysterious spear art of the Yang Family Spear Art had a very annoyingly good chemistry.

A picture of defeat was drawn in his head. Hesitation and fear magnified the crack. A wall with a crack was no longer a firm wall.

"At this rate, we'll all die meaninglessly. Cut."

At someone's word, all of them retreated the encirclement by half a step and pulled back those who were seized with fear.

The Dog Wolf unit, taking the loss of their comrades in a short time as a lesson, quickly restored the wall.

They calmly controlled their minds and rearmed their spirits.

The mentality and military discipline that made that possible in a fleeting moment. Jang So-gil, at their orderly and thorough appearance even without a captain, muttered as if he had lost his spirit.

"I'll win, but it's not going to be an easy win."

It was as Jang So-gil had thought.

It took a full hour for Jang So-gil and Yang Gwan to escape the encirclement of the Dog Wolf unit.

That time was enough for other hyenas to be attracted.

* * *

And then, a considerable amount of time passed again.

Jang So-gil, combing his hair with a comb, frowned.

"Damn it..."

The number of pursuers was dozens of times more than he had expected.

After cutting and cutting and cutting again and fleeing, the sun had set at some point.

The main strategy was to flee to the mountains, taking advantage of the time when it was getting dark. Jang So-gil and Yang Gwan had barely found a small cave and had gotten a chance to rest their bodies.

Yang Gwan, wringing out his snow-soaked shoes, said.

"I never dreamed that there would be so many who wanted to die for five thousand taels."

"From the looks of it, the amount has gone up. Crazy bastards, do they think they can get away with killing an inspector of the Martial Alliance..."

The anger of the Martial Alliance was frightening. If the inspector hunt were to succeed, no one in the world could handle the aftermath.

But it was the magic of money that made one forget such a natural principle and the future.

"When will the support from the Martial Alliance come?"

"It will come, but it won't be faster than the pursuers."

Regardless of incompetence or competence, it was because the majority of the pursuers were ronin.

In the case of the Demonic Cult members who practiced demonic arts, it was easy to catch them because they had 'Demonic Cult' written on their faces. But since ronin were originally wanderers with no particular characteristics. It was not as if the Martial Alliance could just brand any passing ronin as a pursuer and punish them in order to help Jang So-gil.

So in order to come for support, they would have to find Jang So-gil by looking at the traces of the fight, but with that method, they could never arrive faster than the pursuers.

"How about we set off a signal flare?"

"The pursuers will come first. Are you boasting that you're here?"

"Then wasn't it right to escape by boat earlier?"

They had come from Luoyang to Zhongmou by boat. Wouldn't it have been better to return by boat as they had come?

At Yang Gwan's question, Jang So-gil shook his head.

"If a fight breaks out on the Yellow River, there will be no place to escape. The boat we came on is not that fast. It's not a boat that can be fought on either. Besides, neither you nor I are people who fight well on a river, are we?"

"That's true. I'm sorry. It was a slip of the tongue."

"Don't mind it. Rather, it's about the future."

After arriving in Zhongmou, they had been constantly pursued. Starting with the Three-Knots of the Beggars' Sect who were the targets of the investigation, the Dog Wolf unit of the Seomun Clan, the signal flare, and the numerous ronin. A well-planned strategy was felt.

Jang So-gil, who had tidied his hair and then his clothes, looked at the bonfire and smiled calmly.

"The beginning was the merchants, but the initiative of the matter is probably held by the Seomun Clan."

"So the culprit of all this mess is them in the end..."

The pursuit of the other guys and the pursuit of the Dog Wolf unit were fundamentally different in level. If the Dog Wolf unit had not tied up their feet, they would have defeated the pursuit of the ronin unit in one go and returned to Luoyang. The Dog Wolf unit was that strong and annoying.

"Even a noble family like the Seomun Clan doesn't have that many of those cards. It seems they've made a proper gamble."

Was he that angry that his child had been beaten? Or was it that he couldn't stand his family's face being crushed? Either way, it was an emotion he couldn't understand.

"It seems the Seomun Clan doesn't want to live under the same sky as me."

"The world is so wide, I wonder if we really have to fight like this."

"They're a prestigious noble family, but their insides are really narrower than a village well."

"What are you going to do from now on?"

Jang So-gil thought about the escape route from here to Luoyang.

It was not easy. There were no horses, and there were many pursuers.

Although it was not as dense as the 'Heavenly Net Earthly Web' of the Sichuan Tang Clan, since the number was much larger, it was a rather tricky encirclement.

The fact that it was not an encirclement created by a single force with a command structure and control also doubled the difficulty of escape. Since different forces were moving as they pleased for their own interests, there was a high probability that an enemy would pop out from an unexpected place.

Yang Gwan's eyes sparkled.

"How about we ask for cooperation from a nearby force?"

"Is there a force in this vicinity that we can ask for cooperation?"

To the north was the Beggars' Sect, but that path was blocked by pursuers.

To the west...

"Ah... ha."

"Yes. The Shaolin Temple is there."

The Shaolin of Mount Song. It was the pillar of the orthodox sect. If he asked for help, they would not avoid it.

Although Yang Gwan spoke confidently, Jang So-gil was indifferent.

"How much money do you think those bald monks will demand?"

"No, no. What are you talking about!"

"You don't know, but those bald monks are crazy about money. Well, it's not that they torment the common people, but they're crazy about extorting money from the powerful and merchants."

They were generous to the common people, but they plundered from the powerful in the name of a donation.

The monks of the Shaolin Temple that Jang So-gil knew were such beings.

"They'll ask for at least half of the money put up as a bounty. But by now, my bounty will have exceeded ten thousand taels. Do I have to pay that money just to get help once?"

"That's true, but, Young Master So. You can't take money to your grave. If you die trying to save money, what a disgrace that would be."

"..."

That's true.

Jang So-gil's mouth trembled. An unexpected sharp remark had painfully pierced his head.

Pressing his temples, Jang So-gil said.

"There's another reason."

"What is it?"

"Those guys will be blocking the roads to the west and north to prevent our trip to Luoyang. Since Mount Song is to the west from here, it's like walking into their encirclement with our own feet."

"Ah..."

"So we're going south."

(End of Chapter)